(The Hill) — A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration cannot immediately cut funding or issue fines against the University of California system over its allegations of discrimination and antisemitism.
U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin placed a preliminary injunction against threats to funding, citing the administration’s repeated vow to launch civil rights investigations to justify severing those funds “with the goal of bringing universities to their knees and forcing them to change their ideological tune.”
In her decision, Lin argued the government’s slashing of funds and investigations opened by Departments of Education and Justice (DOJ) were “coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and 10th Amendment” based on “overwhelming evidence” from UC faculty and labor unions
Leo Terrell, senior counsel at the DOJ and head of its antisemitism task force, vowed to take “every single federal dollar” from the university system. The UC system receives more than $17 billion a year in federal funding.
“With every day that passes, [the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)] continues to be denied the chance to win new grants, ratcheting up Defendants’ pressure campaign,” Lin wrote. “And numerous UC faculty and staff have submitted declarations describing how Defendants’ actions have already chilled speech throughout the UC system.”
Professors and faculty said they “stopped teaching or researching topics they are afraid are too ‘left’ or ‘woke,’ in order to avoid triggering further funding cancellations by” the federal government and out of fear of reprisals, the judge added.
In compliance with the government’s investigations, UC faculty have “avoided publicly speaking or promoting student work on disfavored topics,” Lin continued later. “They have refrained from participating in protests. Others have detailed how the UC withdrew support for their research on disfavored topics, resulting in them being unable to pursue that work.”
In September, the Trump administration sought a $1 billion settlement with the University of California, Los Angeles after it paused over $550 million in research funds. The settlement was to be paid in installments, along with a $172 million fund for those impacted by civil rights violations.
NewsNation partner The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on Lin’s ruling.
Since his return to the White House, President Trump has taken action against universities over claims of discrimination and antisemitism, specifically after the mass protests across campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza.
In September, a judge ordered the Trump administration to release $2.2 billion in frozen funds back to Harvard University. The following month, a federal judge sided with Harvard and ruled that the university’s nearly $3 billion in federal funding should be restored.
The Trump administration earlier this year also urged a group of universities to sign a 10-point compact in exchange for a funding advantage in federal grants. As of last month, many universities have spurned the deal and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) threatened to pull funds from any schools in the state that agreed to the pact.